Lorenzo Gilyard

Lorenzo Gilyard was born on May 24, 1950 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was the first child of three born into his family. In his teen years Gilyard was known to beat and bully women. Throughout Gilyard’s life his family was convicted for numerous offences. His father was convicted of rape in 1970, brother was convicted of a drug-related murder and sentenced to life in prison and his sister was convicted of murder in 1983.

Prior to his murder series Gilyard was a convicted child molester. His probation records show that between 1969 and 1974 he was suspected of 4 rapes, but these rapes were never proven.

It is suspected that Gilyard’s murder series began in 1977, at the age of 27, and continued until 1993. His known murder series began in 1986, at the age of 35, and continued until 1987. All of the victims that Gilyard murdered, with the exception of one, were female prostitutes. Nearly all of the victims had been sexually assaulted prior to their murders. The victims were between the ages of 15 and 36. Gilyard chose to murder his victims by strangling them to death with nylons, stockings, shoe strings or wire. Many victims had pieces of clothing in their mouths. Every victim was discovered without their shoes. Each victim was either left at the scene of the crime with no attempt to hide the body or was posed in various places.

On April 24, 2006 Gilyard was arrested when his DNA, which was taken in 1987, matched with victim DNA. On April 29, Gilyard was indicted on 12 counts of murder. He was found guilty for the murders of six people and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

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Lorenzo Gilyard was found guilty for the murders of six people, but is suspected to have been involved in the murders of eight other people. We currently have information on all of his known and suspected victims. Stacie L. Swofford Stacie’s remains, age 17, were discovered on April 17, 1977….